Are you interested in 3D printing? Do you want to see what you can make with a 3D printer? Do you already have one? Then the 2014 Midwest RepRap Festival in Elkhart County Indiana is the place to be March 14-16th. This event is totally FREE to come and attend, there are no tickets, no entry fees just come hang out all weekend with other 3D printer guys and gals. Come learn what they are, what they can do and how you can use them yourself! Ask questions and get answers from many different people who have experience in using and building their own printers. Please fill out the RSVP form by following the link above so we know how many people to expect. This event will feature build-events, guest speakers and more.

LIVE PRESENTATIONS

Come here presentations on some of the highlights of reprap projects, examples of innovative ideas and designs, here Josef Prusa talk about the core team, even some really neat examples of what can be done with reprap printers. We’ll also have one of the most active teachers in the U.S. with 3D printing explaining how to get kids in schools to grab ahold and use 3D printing

TEST AND TUNE

Experts will be on hand to help you troubleshoot issues or take your prints to the next level! The event is FULL of people who want to see everyone become an expert. Whether it’s a simple question about a software setting, a new mechanical design, recommendations on where to go to get into reprap or more, don’t hesitate to ask anyone at the event.

MEET THE MAKERS

Meet some of the big names in RepRap, like MaxBots (Mendel MAX dev), Josef Prusa (Prusa Mendel/i3 and more), Logxen (Smoothieboard Dev) and many more.

CRAZY NEW REPRAPS

Nicolas Seward (RepRap WALLY, SIMPSON, LISA) will be showing off his newest reprap creations, and talking about the unique features of his designs

BUILD EVENTS

Maker Tool Works will be featuring a fusematic build workshop to build one of their newest machines. To learn more, click HERE. SeeMeCNC is making a special edition 2014 MRRF ONLY version of their Orion Delta for anyone interested. Click HERE to see it.

3D PRINTING CHALLENGES

See some of the most difficult prints take shape over the course of the weekend, and some fun printing challenges too, like the hand-fed extruder print challenge

If you are already a 3D Printer user, please feel free to bring your printer to show off or get help tuning. If you aren’t, this will be a great opportunity for you to see the various makes models in person. In addition, several of the primary reprap vendors will be on site. I’m sure they will have things for sale and you may even get a discount!

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! If you’ve made a cool project that combines 3D printing and electronics, be sure to let us know, and we’ll feature it here!